Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
1. The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
2. Claim(s) 1-2, 19-21, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by BRAGANCA et al (Pub. No.: US 2017/011702).
3. Regarding independent claim 1, BRAGANCA et al teaches a storage device (Fig. 1) comprising: a memory cell (Fig. 1, #102) provided with a magnetoresistive effect element (Fig. 1, #102, claim 16, line 1, Fig. 3); a word line (Fig. 1, WORD LINES) connected to one end of the magnetoresistive effect element (Fig. 1, #102, claim 16, line 1, Fig. 3); and a bit line (Fig. 1, BIT LINES) connected to another end of the magnetoresistive effect element (Fig. 1, #102, claim 16, line 1, Fig. 3).
4. Regading claim 2, BRAGANCA et al teaches the magnetoresistive effect element (Fig. 1, #102, claim 16, line 1, Fig. 3) has a voltage controlled magnetic anisotropy (VCMA) effect (Fig. 3, paragraph [0028], lines 11-19).
5. Regarding claim 19, BRAGANCA et al teaches comprising:a stacked structure (see Fig. 3) of a memory cell (Fig. 1, #102) array in which the memory cell (Fig. 1, #102)s are arranged in a matrix in a row direction and a column direction (see Fig. 1, and Fig. 2).
6. Regarding claim 20, BRAGANCA et al teaches the word line (Fig. 1, WORD LINES) and the bit line (Fig. 1, BIT LINES) are provided for every layer of the memory cell (Fig. 1, #102) array (see Fig. 2).
7. Regarding claim 21, BRAGANCA et al teaches the word line (Fig. 1, WORD LINES) and the bit line (Fig. 1, BIT LINES) are alternately provided for every layer of the memory cell (Fig. 1, #102) array (see Fig. 2).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
8. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
9. Claim(s) 2-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BRAGANCA et al (Pub. No.: US 2017/011702) in view of Wang et al (Pub. No.: US 2022/0271218).
10. Regarding claim 3, BRAGANCA et al teaches the VCMA effect (Fig. 3, paragraph [0028], lines 11-19)
BRAGANCA et al is silent with respect to VCMA effect is nonlinear.
Wang et al teaches the VCMA effect is nonlinear (Fig. 3, paragraph [0022], lines 1-6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to apply the teachings of Wang et al to the teaching of BRAGANCA et al such that improved VCMA can allow for lower energy used to switch the magnetic orientation of the ferromagnetic layer (Wang et al, paragraph [0020]).
11. Regarding claim 4, BRAGANCA et al teaches VCMA effect (Fig. 3, paragraph [0028], lines 11-19) applied to the magnetoresistive effect element (Fig. 1, #102, claim 16, line 1, Fig. 3).
BRAGANCA et al is silent with respect to the VCMA effect has a region having a smaller inclination at a point where a cell voltage is low than an inclination at a point where the cell voltage is high.
Wang et al teaches the VCMA effect has a region having a smaller inclination at a point where a cell voltage is low than an inclination at a point where the cell voltage is high (see Fig. 3A, where at 1.0V/nm the inclination is higher than at -1.0V/nm region).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to apply the teachings of Wang et al to the teaching of BRAGANCA et al such that improved VCMA can allow for lower energy used to switch the magnetic orientation of the ferromagnetic layer (Wang et al, paragraph [0020]).
12. Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BRAGANCA et al (Pub. No.: US 2017/011702) in view of Lee et al (Pub. No.: US 2018/0374526).
13. Regarding claim 5, BRAGANCA et al teaches the magnetoresistive effect element (Fig. 1, #102, claim 16, line 1, Fig. 3) on a basis of the VCMA effect (Fig. 3, paragraph [0028], lines 11-19).
BRAGANCA et al is silent with respect to a driver configured to apply a reversing voltage for reversing a magnetization direction.
Lee et al teaches a driver (Fig. 12, #1208) configured to apply a reversing voltage for reversing a magnetization direction.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to apply the teachings of Lee et al to the teaching of BRAGANCA et al such that reverse pulse scheme for reducing write error rate in magnetoelectric random access memory (see Lee et al abstract, line 1-2)
Allowable Subject Matter
14. Claims 22-28 are allowed
15. With respect to independent claim 22, there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation for combination in the prior art to a resistive state is transitioned on a basis of voltage application in which cell voltages are substantially equal in the resistance states different from each other;
16. With respect to dependent claim 23-28, since these claims are depending on claim 22, therefore claims 23-28 are allowable subject matter.
17. Claim(s) 6-18 is/are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
18. With respect to claims 6, there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation for combination in the prior art to wherein the driver switches a voltage applied to the memory cell such that a reversing voltage is applied to a selected cell while a non-reversing voltage is applied to a non-selected cell, wherein the non-reversing voltage does not reverse a magnetization direction of the magnetoresistive effect element.
19. With respect to dependent claims 7-18, since these claims are depending on claims 6, therefore claims 7-18 are allowable subject matter.
Conclusion
20. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, Lupino et al (Pub. No: US 2015/0249096).
Lupino et al (Pub. No: US 2015/0249096) shows MRAM has VCMA effect.
21. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Han Yang whose telephone is (571) 270-3048. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8am-5pm with alternate Friday off. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Richard Elms can be reached on (571) 272-1869. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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HY
06/10/2026
/HAN YANG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2824
Prosecution Insights